Gadgets, Games and Gizmos… Please Drive Forward

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Keeping an eye out for God of War 2 … oh yeah, and other demos :)

The demo that’s been etched into my psyche was the one for God Of War 2. No, that’s not on Marketplace — as a Sony product, I had to get the good ‘ol fashioned demo disc for the PS2. Unlike the GoW 1 demo disc, which cheesed out right before you fought the Hydra, this demo is ALL about the boss battle against the Colossus.

You essentially fight the Colossus in stages, where each time Kratos does the giant some damage, courtesy of his signature button-timed sequences. The Colossus attempts to pimp-slap Kratos all over the place, like any massive living statue would try to do to a fallen god. You’ll find some moments where you have to avoid getting crushed and stomped (repeated button pressing sequences save you). The demo also reintroduces you to the simple (some would say too simple) fighting system, which felt as button-mashy as the last game. No matter … I’m still going to get it. You really can’t go wrong with Greek mythology in my mind, and this game is loaded with it — Atlas (see above), Pegasus, Icarus, the Colossus — it’s like “Clash of the Titans” for gamers — but no Harry Hamlin. If you want to see some more game footage, roll back a few entries to see the Colossus battle. Just epic stuff … and it’s on the PS2.

Which brings me to another not-so-random thought: What is Kratos doing on the PS2? I know there’s a real answer out there somewhere (development was already too far ahead, Sony didn’t want to send a “PS2 is dead” message, whatever) but with all the early talk I heard about Kratos being the iconic face of the Sony gaming brand, it almost seems criminal that their signature character wouldn’t be asked to help sell their next-gen console.

I’ve harped on this before, but I still can’t shake it — Kratos seems like a victim of bad timing. We didn’t see him until late in the PS2′s life cycle, and now we’re going to have to wait a while before we see him on a next-gen console (though Heavenly Sword has a chance to make people forget about Kratos for month or two). It just seems like he was never asked to carry the load, and I really think he had the potential to do so. Now, with practically every bit of Sony news being negative (and Sony-bashing a bonafide trend), the next God of War game — or ANY original Sony IP for that matter — better move mountains. It’s almost sad, poring over the demo — you see what Sony still has in the tank as far as gaming is concerned. It’s a shame it’s being bogged down by so much negativity.

On a sunnier note, one of my favorite things about Xbox Live Marketplace is how it entices you to check in practically every week, because there always seems to be new stuff out. This week, everybody jumping on the GRAW 2 and MLB 2K7 demo. I’m downloading the MLB 2K7 demo now, and I’m going to have to re-download GRAW 2. It kept jamming up on me (getting frozen screenshots instead of fluid movement).

What little I did play reminded me of why I like Rainbow Six — the cover system. I had no idea what to do without it. In my very brief stints on multiplayer, I had a really hard time figuring out who my opponents were — there were at least TWO instances where I started at someone for about 10 seconds before I launched a grenade at them. One of the players on the mic said it best: “This could become camper heaven.”

I also forgot how wickedly complicated the GRAW world is — automated drones to scout soldiers out (though not much use in smaller matches), about 1,000 different functions for the controller. Granted, everything feels a little more natural the more you play, but there are still going to be times where I get killed trying to figure out my weapon functions. Ugh.

Tomorrow, I’m visiting with 2K to get a closer look at MLB, so I’ll be back with some words on that. I figure I should get some demo time in, so I don’t completely noob out. I miss football.